We released Datasets, we launched the Site. Now here comes the Plan. This morning we posted the draft USDA Open Gov Plan. Our Open Gov Steering Committee has been working hard to pull together information from our 17 agencies and a large volume of ideas and comments submitted by you.
I was thrilled to see communities forming around specific issues and ideas continued to flow in through the end. We received many great ideas that were incorporated to the plan and we hope that the community stays engaged and provides feedback on the draft.
Two quick thoughts from my initial skimming:
1) The USDA Open Governance Model on page 26 is great! When you mention “accountability” in the model, what does that exactly mean?
2) Love the Frank Zappa quote on page 14. 🙂
It is one thing to receive input from various stakeholders, but it is another to follow through and DO something with those ideas.
For example, the Communications Working Group not only listened to ideas and comments on the Open site, but we shared feedback with the Open Gov Plan Working Group when specific items warranted inclusion in the draft plan.
Clearly defined roles, continuous dialogue and weekly meetings helped all sides ensure that we stay true to our goal of closing “The Loop.”
We tried to make the draft plan more accessible with great quotes! Glad you like 🙂
Uploaded it to our Slideshare site in case folks want to quickly embed…
Thanks for the upload!
Amanda,
I think it’s just Great that at least one federal agency has offered a Draft of its OpenGov Plan for public comment before finalizing it. I think it’s crazy to go straight from Brainstorming to Finalization (i.e., skipping over the traditonal Comment/Discussion step in federal promulgation).
And, I do have some comments about the Draft, but I want to make sure that I put them in the best place. That is, I want to put them in a place where others will be most likely to see them, and comment on them, as I can comment on theirs.
I found the OpenUSDA blog where people can post comments on the Draft, but you are also asking here “What do you think?”
When is the last day for commenting? I assume that it won’t be COB on the day before the Final Plan is due.
Thanks, Stephen – We are driving folks to the USDA’s Open Blog page you found for commenting and hope to stimulate discussion there. Of course we will accept comments up to the deadline, but it would be wonderful if we had them in before Monday so we have a full business day to incorporate. Friday of course would be even better!
As we receive feedback this week, we plan to promote through our Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well.
Anything else you would recommend?